Literature Review #3: The Narcissism Epidemic

The Narcissism Epidemic:  Living in the Age of Entitlement
Jean M. Twenge, PhD
W. Keith Campbell, PhD

Citation: Twenge, Jean M. and W. Keith Campbell.  The Narcissism Epidemic:  Living in the Age of Entitlement.  New York, NY: Atria Books, 2013.  Print.

Key Terms and Ideas: self-admiration, the self in general, uniqueness, parenting and education, entitlement, "I want to make a difference"

Summary:
Another book by Twenge, this time co-authored with her husband, Keith Campbell, The Narcissism Epidemic reveals through a wealth of empirical data the suspicion that many hold: namely, that a highly narcissistic culture has developed in the U.S. from the 1970's onward, reaching new heights as the Millennial Generation comes to age.  This book illustrates the development of the trend toward narcissism, beginning with the (then communal) trends of self-exploration and subsequently self-expression originating in the 1970's.  These concepts developed into narcissism slowly but with graceful ease granted by the stability of the economy through the 1990's, Twenge and Campbell argue.  Furthermore, Twenge and Campbell demonstrate the consequences of narcissism and make suggests to combat the epidemic. 

Quotes: 
"In data from 37,000 college students, narcissistic personality traits rose just as fast as obesity from the 1980's to the present, with the shift especially pronounced for women... By 2006, 1 out of 4 college students agreed with the majority of the items on a standard measure of narcissistic traits.  Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), the more severe, clinical diagnosed version of the trait, is also far more common than once thought. (2)"

"Behavior and attitudes that don't go far enough to merit a clinical diagnosis but that can nevertheless be destructive to the individual and other people (3)."

"...with more than 80% of recent college students scoring higher in general self-esteem than the average 1960's college student (13)."

"Narcissus becomes frozen by his self-admiration and unable to connect with anyone outside himself-and his narcissism harms other people (18-19)."

"The narcissist spends his or her life regulating his or her social relationships in order to maximize self-admiration.  When it works, the narcissist feels a rush of esteem and pride; when it fails, narcissist reacts with anger, blame, and sometimes rage. (19)"

"One story is about the high level of narcissism among individuals.  The other story is about a shift in our shared cultural values toward greater narcissism and self-admiration. (23)"

"America's two major core values have been freedom and equality (58)."

"This study and the words of the Constitution both show that equality and tolerance are the core ideas of American government, not self-admiration (59)."

"The United States has also historically valued self-reliance, which is quite different from narcissism...Ralph Waldo Emerson argued that individualism must be grounded in effort and responsibility.  he praised young people who chose to work hard rather than show off.  (59)"

"Many of the protests of the [1960's] era focused on individual rights and liberties, though these movements were at first very group-oriented... (60)."

"More modern behavioral theories argue that narcissism instead arises from inflated feedback-if you're told over and over that you are great, you'll probably think you are great (80)."  

"...a link between narcissism and parents putting kids on a pedestal-praising them for everything and rarely criticizing...where kids get sports trophies just for participating (83)."

"'everyone is a unique snowflake (190).'"

"...people who believe they are special often want to be the exception to the rule, which is usually unfair to everyone else (191)."

"...teenagers who have a 'personal fable' of uniqueness believe that no one understands them...[and] are significantly more likely to be depressed and to think about suicide. (192)"

"'The disappointments came later, because we realized that life itself did not treat us "special (192)."'"

"...narcissism is a significant risk factor or aggressive and violent behavior...often when they feel they aren't getting the respect they deserve...when someone tries to restrict their freedom. (196)"

"In another study, preteen children with high self-esteem justified their aggression toward others by rationalizing it away (197)."

"There is the assumption that 'my opinion matters' yet at the same time, the stubborn insistence that other people's opinions are wrong or irrelevant... (202)."

"...entitlement, the pervasive belief that one deserves special treatment, success, and more material things.  Entitlement is one of the key components of narcissism, and one of the most damaging to others...entitlement is like a ghost, difficult to see in solid form, but increasingly wafting its cold, cloudy fingers into everything. (230)"

"As a facet of narcissism, entitlement means acting as if you have a title-or a right-to something even when you don't (231)."

"College professors often comment that today's students feel they deserve special treatment (231)."

"...narcissism as part of a troubling trend away from personal responsibility (292)."

"...love emphasizes connection, but specialness emphasizes difference.  People who truly think they are special have trouble with connecting to 'normal' people, likewise 'normal' people have problems connecting to 'special' people.  (293)"  [labels and identities as a form of 'specialness'- connected to the minority school programs illustrated in Twenge's previous book]